Virat Kohli never shies away from speaking his mind or expressing his emotions and it was evident once again on Friday (March 22) when Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore faced off in the first game of IPL 2024.
The former RCB captain gave Rachin Ravindra an expletive-laden send-off after the New Zealand star was sent off by Karn Sharma. The left-handed batsman made his IPL debut in the match and got off to a promising start. He opened the innings with captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and looked in good touch from the word go.
While Gaikwad looked cautious, Ravindra played his shots freely. The New Zealand opener raced to 37 runs off just 14 balls with the help of three fours and as many sixes, but before he could take the game away from RCB, Karn Sharma dismissed him.
After taking a six on the fifth ball of the seventh over, Karn Sharma dismissed Ravindra off the next delivery. Ravindra took a knee for a slow sweep but ended up shooting straight at Rajat Patidar at backward square leg.
As Ravindra walked out of the ground, cameras turned to Virat Kohli, who was seen seeing off the New Zealand star. The former India captain asked Ravindra to leave the field with a hand gesture and was also seen dropping the F-bomb.
Watch Virat Kohli dismiss Ravindra:
pic.twitter.com/HUcInu5yTz
– Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka (@Hanji_CricDekho) March 22, 2024
6⃣.5⃣ – SIX 6⃣.6⃣ – OUT
That was an interesting game passage!
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Follow the match ▶️ #TATAIPL | #CSKvRCB pic.twitter.com/JjiIclkEoj
– IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 22, 2024
Earlier in the game, RCB recovered from a poor start to post a competitive total of 173 for 6 in the allotted 20 overs. The Bengaluru-based team was reeling at 78 for 5 in the 12th over before a brilliant 96-run stand between Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik got the team out of trouble. Talking about Virat Kohli, the right-handed batsman scored 21 runs off 20 balls in his first competitive game since January.